Method for manufacturing ceiling fan blade and ceiling fan blade

ABSTRACT

A ceiling fan blade includes a foamed layer, two paper layers, and two cover layers. The foamed layer is formed by foaming a polystyrene material. The paper layers are positioned on two opposite faces of the foamed layer respectively. The cover layers are positioned on the paper layers respectively so that each paper layer is sandwiched between the foamed layer and one of the cover layers. Thereby, the ceiling fan blade of the present invention is light-weight, low-cost, and easy to manufacture. In addition, energy to rotate the ceiling fan is reduced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a ceilingfan blade and to a ceiling fan blade.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A conventional ceiling fan blade is usually made by wooden veneer orwooden fiberboard. A fan blade made by wooden veneer is weightedapproximately 300-350 g, and a fan blade made by wooden fiberboard isweighted approximately 350-400 g. Thus, a conventional ceiling fanincluding five fan blades may be weighted approximately 1500-2000 g. Asa result, a conventional ceiling fan is difficult to install, and theloading of motor to rotate the ceiling fan is quite high.

In addition, when an earthquake or other accident occurs, the heavywooden fan blade may fall to hurt people.

Besides, the wooden fan blade may accelerate deforestation.

Thus, foam material is introduced to manufacture improved fan blades, asdisclosed in patents TW 224062 and TW 229720. In the disclosures, asteel bar or other rigid objects is placed into a mold, and a foammaterial is injected into the mold. The foam material is foamed andexpanded to wrap the steel bar to give a ceiling fan blade which islighter.

However, the process to manufacture is complicated and time-consuming,and the weight is not really reduced due to the steel bar. On the otherhand, gravity center of the fan blade may be alternated by position ofthe steel bar in the fan blade. Thus, error of the position of the steelbar may result that the ceiling fan blade lose its balance, andcalibration may be necessary during installation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a ceiling fanblade which is easy to manufacture, low-cost, and light-weight.

To achieve the above and other objects, a method for manufacturingceiling fan blade of the present invention includes the steps of:

Preparing a foamed layer: preparing a polystyrene material and foamingthe polystyrene material to form a foamed layer; adding paper layers:positioning a paper sheet on each of two opposite faces of the foamedlayer to form a paper layer; adding cover layers: positioning a coverlayer on a face of each paper layer opposite to the foamed layer to forma ceiling fan blade wherein two cover layers define upside and downsideof the ceiling fan blade.

A ceiling fan blade is also provided in the present invention. Theceiling fan blade includes a foamed layer, two paper layers, and twocover layers.

The foamed layer is prepared by foaming a polystyrene material. Thepaper layers are positioned on two opposite faces of the foamed layerrespectively. The cover layers are positioned on the two paper layersrespectively so that each paper layer is sandwiched between the foamedlayer and one of the cover layers.

Thereby, the polystyrene foamed material helps reduce weight of theceiling fan blade, and the loading of motor is reduced too. In addition,the ceiling fan blade of the present invention looks similar toconventional one, but less wood is used.

The present invention will become more obvious from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferredembodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a breakdown drawing of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a stereogram of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a profile of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a profile showing a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 and FIG. 3A, the method formanufacturing ceiling fan blade is provided in the present embodiment.The ceiling fan blade 10, 10′ is adapted for being disposed on a ceilingfan base 20. The method for manufacturing the ceiling fan blade 10, 10′includes the following steps.

(a) Prepare a foamed layer S1: prepare a polystyrene material and foamthe polystyrene material to form a foamed layer 11 which has apredetermined thickness. The foaming magnification of the foamed layeris not larger than 20 to maintain sufficient structure strength.

(b) Add paper layers S2: Position a paper sheet on each of two oppositefaces of the foamed layer 11 to form a paper layer 12. Morespecifically, two paper sheets are adhered onto two opposite faces ofthe foamed layer 11 from two ends of the thickness direction of thefoamed layer by glue or adhesive. The paper layers 12 improve thestructure strength by aggregating the foam material to be a single pieceso that the foamed layer is prevented from rupture.

(b-1) Add metal layers S3: position a metal sheet on a face of eachpaper layer 12 opposite to the foamed layer 11 to form a metal layer 14wherein the metal sheet is preferably aluminum. The metal layers 14further improve structure strength of the ceiling fan blade 10′.However, the metal layers are selectively introduced. In the embodimentshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the metal layers are omitted.

(c) Add cover layers S4: position a cover layer 13 on each paper layer12 (or each metal layer 14) to form a ceiling fan blade 10, 10′. The twocover layers 13 define upside and downside of the ceiling fan blade 10,10′. Preferably, each cover layer 13 is a wood grain sheet, a metallicsheet, or other decorative material.

(d) Cutting S5: cut the aggregated foamed layer 11, the paper layers 12,the metal layers 14, and the cover layers 13 into a predetermined sizeto give a final product.

(e) Coloring S6: a part of the foamed layer 11 which is not covered bythe paper layers 12 and the cover layers 13 is colored. Morespecifically, the exposed part of the foamed layer 11 is colored into acolor similar to the cover layers. Alternatively, this step can bereplaced by a step that coloring the polystyrene material before foamingthe polystyrene material. For example, the polystyrene can be blendedwith dye. Thereby, the foamed layer is able to show a color similar tothe cover layers.

The present invention also provides a ceiling fan blade including afoamed layer 11, two paper layers 12, two metal layers 14, and two coverlayers 13, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5. The foamed layer 11 is prepared byfoaming a polystyrene material and has a predetermined thickness. Thetwo paper layers 12 are positioned on two opposite faces of the foamedlayer 11 respectively by glue or adhesive so that the foamed layer 11 issandwiched by the two paper layers 12. The two metal layers 14 areadhered onto the two paper layers 12 for improving structure strength.However, the metal layers are selectively introduced and is able to beomitted. The two cover layers 13 are positioned on the two paper layers12 (or the two metal layers 14) respectively so that each paper layer issandwiched between the foamed layer 11 and one of the cover layers 13.Each cover layer 13 is a wood grain sheet, a metallic sheet, or otherdecorative material.

In addition, a part of the foamed layer 11 which is not covered (thelateral periphery) is colored into a color similar to the cover layers13. Alternatively, the polystyrene material can be colored before beingfoamed, so the foamed layer shows a color similar to the cover layers.

In conclusion, the ceiling fan blade of the present invention is mucheasier to manufacture, so manufacturing process is simplified andspeeded. Also, the cost is reduced. Besides, the present invention ismade of foam material and paper instead of steel bars, so the ceilingfan blade is light-weighted (about 40-50 g). As a result, the loading ofthe motor to drive the ceiling fan is reduced to save energy. On theother hand, when earthquake or other accident occurs, the fallingceiling fan blade may not hurt people too much. Besides, less wood isused to manufacture the ceiling fan blade of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing ceiling fan blade,including steps of: (a) preparing a foamed layer: preparing polystyrenematerial and foaming the polystyrene material to form a foamed layer;(b) adding paper layers: positioning a paper sheet on each of twoopposite faces of the foamed layer to form a paper layer; (c) addingcover layers: positioning a cover layer on a face of each paper layeropposite to the foamed layer to form a ceiling fan blade wherein twocover layers define upside and downside of the ceiling fan blade.
 2. Themethod for manufacturing ceiling fan blade of claim 1, wherein in thestep of (c), each paper layer is positioned with one of the cover layerto form a raw product, and the raw product is further cut to form theceiling fan blade.
 3. The method for manufacturing ceiling fan blade ofclaim 1, wherein in the step of (c), a part of the foamed layer which isnot covered by the paper layers and the cover layers is colored afterthe cover layers have been positioned on the paper layers.
 4. The methodfor manufacturing ceiling fan blade of claim 1, wherein a step thatpositioning a metal sheet on the face of each paper layer opposite tothe foamed layer to form a metal layer is processed between the steps of(b) and (c).
 5. The method for manufacturing ceiling fan blade of claim1, wherein each cover layer is a wood grain sheet or a metallic sheet.6. The method for manufacturing ceiling fan blade of claim 1, whereinthe polystyrene material is colored before being foamed.
 7. A ceilingfan blade, including: a foamed layer, prepared by foaming a polystyrenematerial; two paper layers, positioned on two opposite faces of thefoamed layer respectively; two cover layers, positioned on the two paperlayers respectively so that each paper layer is sandwiched between thefoamed layer and one of the cover layers.
 8. The ceiling fan blade ofclaim 7, wherein a part of the foamed layer which is not covered by thepaper layers and the cover layers is colored.
 9. The ceiling fan bladeof claim 7, wherein a metal layer is sandwiched between each paper layerand its adjacent cover layer.
 10. The ceiling fan blade of claim 7,wherein the polystyrene material of the foamed layer is colored beforebeing foamed.